Modern computing and display technologies have facilitated the development of systems for so-called “virtual reality” or “augmented reality” experiences, wherein digitally reproduced images or portions thereof are presented to a user in a manner where they seem to be, or may be perceived as, real. A virtual reality (VR) scenario typically involves presentation of digital or virtual image information without transparency to other actual real-world visual input, whereas an augmented reality (AR) scenario typically involves presentation of digital or virtual image information as an augmentation to visualization of the actual world around the end user.
For example, referring to FIG. 1, an augmented reality scene 4 is depicted wherein a user of an AR technology sees a real-world park-like setting 6 featuring people, trees, buildings in the background, and a concrete platform 8. In addition to these items, the end user of the AR technology also perceives that he “sees” a robot statue 10 standing upon the real-world platform 8, and a cartoon-like avatar character 12 flying by which seems to be a personification of a bumble bee, even though these elements 10, 12 do not exist in the real world. As it turns out, the human visual perception system is very complex, and producing a VR or AR technology that facilitates a comfortable, natural-feeling, rich presentation of virtual image elements amongst other virtual or real-world imagery elements is challenging.
VR and AR systems typically employ head-worn displays (or helmet-mounted displays, or smart glasses) that are at least loosely coupled to a user's head, and thus move when the end user's head moves. If the end user's head motions are detected by the display system, the data being displayed can be updated to take the change in head pose (i.e., the orientation and/or location of user's head) into account.
As an example, if a user wearing a head-worn display views a virtual representation of a three-dimensional (3D) object on the display and walks around the area where the 3D object appears, that 3D object can be re-rendered for each viewpoint, giving the end user the perception that he or she is walking around an object that occupies real space. If the head-worn display is used to present multiple objects within a virtual space (for instance, a rich virtual world), measurements of head pose can be used to re-render the scene to match the end user's dynamically changing head location and orientation and provide an increased sense of immersion in the virtual space.
Head-worn displays that enable AR (i.e., the concurrent viewing of real and virtual elements) can have several different types of configurations. In one such configuration, often referred to as a “video see-through” display, a camera captures elements of a real scene, a computing system superimposes virtual elements onto the captured real scene, and a non-transparent display presents the composite image to the eyes. Another configuration is often referred to as an “optical see-through” display, in which the end user can see through transparent (or semi-transparent) elements in the display system to view directly the light from real objects in the environment. The transparent element, often referred to as a “combiner,” superimposes light from the display over the end user's view of the real world.
In certain VR and AR systems, it is desirable to display text adjacent an object presently viewed by a user. For example, if the end user enters a coffee shop and views a cup of coffee 22a, a danish 22b, and a smoothie 22c displayed on an actual or virtual menu 20, as illustrated in FIG. 2, it may be desirable to textually display a descriptive message (e.g., “coffee, decaf, soy”) adjacent the cup of coffee 22a, a descriptive message (e.g., strawberry flavored danish) adjacent the danish 22b, and a descriptive message (e.g., strawberry, pineapple, mango smoothie) adjacent the smoothie 22c to facilitate the end user's decision as to whether to order the cup of coffee 22a, the danish 22b, and/or the smoothie 22c, which may involve ordering it via conventional communication with the vendor or electronically ordering it via verbal or non-verbal cues provided by the end user through the VR and AR system. While textually displaying descriptive messages adjacent actual or virtual objects to which the messages pertain works well in theory, the resolution of present-day display technology is limited in that fine print cannot be resolved, and therefore a large area is needed to display the coarse print, thereby potentially cluttering the three-dimensional scene viewed by the end user.
There, thus, is a need to more efficiently display a message adjacent a virtual or actual objects in a virtual reality or augmented reality system.